India on Tuesday secured the WTO's permission to establish a dispute settlement panel to rule on controversial unilateral duties imposed by the US on the imports of steel and aluminium under the controversial US Section 232 security provisions . The US blocked India's first request on 21 November but, under WTO rules, when a complainant makes a second request the panel is automatically established.

The United States urged European Union governments to reflect on whether it was really in their interest to go ahead with a trade dispute over US metals tariffs, and said it was hopeful of settling the issue with Mexico and Canada. "We would encourage the European countries to consider carefully their broader economic, political, and security interests," Shea told the meeting.

India has updated data on its food subsidies to the WTO for the second time in three months, submitting details for the financial year 2016-17. WTO rules cap government procurement for subsidized food programmes by developing countries at 10% of the total value of agricultural production based on 1986-89 prices. These figures are always reported in dollar terms.